I want to first of all thank you for all your efforts in
your endeavor to record information about the Bryan family. It is a task that will be
greatly appreciated by our children, grandchildren and all those that come after us.

I share your enthusiasm for this type of work. My Dad and
I have been working on the Gilfillan genealogy since 1990. It has been very rewarding, if
for nothing else than to give us time to spend together. We have traveled to many
different places throughout the eastern US searching for our "roots." As a
result of all the information we collected, I have started a Gilfillan Family Page website
at:www.mediaconsultants.com/gilfillan.htm.
This site also contains information about the
Bryans and several other families closely associated with the Gilfillans.

What I remember about the Bryans:

I am the son of Carlton A. Gilfillan, Sr., and Myrtle
Evelyn Gore. Myrtle Ellen Bryan (1897-1989) was my maternal grandmother, and we always
called her Ma Ma. As a youth, I spent every summer from the age of 6 until the age of 16
with my grandparents on their farm on Highway #9 between Loris and Longs, SC. During those
years, we had many visitors, and almost all the Bryan brothers and sisters would
periodically drop by to see us. I remember those visits well. The Bryans were smart,
strong, hardy people with an unusually well developed sense of humor. They were all raised
by Luticius and Prudence Bryan on a small dirt road several miles west of Sweet Home
Baptist Church (near Longs, SC) in a relatively large, and apparently unpainted, single
story house. Ma Ma pointed it out to me on several occasions when I was a boy and young
teenager. I think the house was destroyed in the late 1950s.

The Bryans werent wealthy, but they were not the
poorest family around either (I heard Ma Ma and Aunt Frosty talking about this one time).
The late 1800s and early 1900s were a hard time for most folks, wherever they
lived. Large families were commonplace and I think the Bryans had a total of twelve
children. Ma Ma often told of traveling by horse and buggy wherever they went, and I
remember she said that they once even went to the beach (somewhere near present day Cherry
Grove). These were the days before the beaches were developed and there was nothing except
long expanses of sand dunes and sea oats.

She once told me when she was a young girl, that there
were strange animals lurking in the swamps around Buck Creek, and that they would come out
at night and occasionally kill a chicken or a pig. She said that her father, Luticius,
called them polecats. Now a polecat is supposed to be a skunk-like animal, but Ma Ma said
Luticius Bryan killed one and brought it to their home. She said it was not a skunk, but
was more like a large wildcat and had a tremendous stench about it. Many neighbors came by
to marvel at it.

I remember Ma Ma telling me about the first time the
Bryans ever saw a motor car. It was in the very early 1900s and a neighbor had a
friend who came visiting in one of these new contraptions that everyone had only heard
about. By some means or other, some of the Bryan children were invited for a ride in this
new automobile. Well, the driver got that car up to about 30 miles per hour and they were
all screaming for him to stop because they couldnt believe how fast they were going!
They all had a great time.

Ma Ma had a great sense of humor and I hope I have
inherited some of that from her. Maybe in those hard years when they were growing up, you
needed a good sense of humor just to keep going. Maybe we would all be better off if we
took a few moments to laugh at our daily troubles and stress.

Ma Ma loved a good joke, including dirty or naughty ones!
This is especially odd when you consider how religious she was, but she loved to laugh,
and I remember well her bent over double in laughter and her smiling round face just
beaming. I am going to relate a couple of her favorite jokes that I remember her telling,
but one, I warn you, may not be fit to print and pass on to our descendants. One of her
favorites was about the preacher who was invited to come for Sunday dinner (by the way,
Dinner was always around 12:00 PM, and Supper was around 6:00 PMI dont ever
remember having Lunch). When the family and preacher were properly seated, and as the
family was very politely passing the bowls of food around the dinner table, the little boy
looked at the bowl of fried chicken and said, "Mommy, this doesnt look like
buzzard." "Why, son, what do you mean?", said the mother. "Well, you
said we were going to have the old buzzard for dinner on Sunday," said the boy.

One of Ma Mas dirty jokes that I remember
overhearing as a teenager, and one that remains one of my favorites, is about the little
farm boy who got up grumpy one morning and stomped into the kitchen where his mother was
preparing breakfast. His mother turned to the little boy, and said, "Remember,
youre not going to have any breakfast this morning until you go out and feed the
chickens, slop the hogs, and tend to the old cow." Still grumpy and mumbling the
little boy got up and stomped out of the kitchen. On the way to the farm yard, he ran into
an old hen, and angrily kicked her and said, "Get out of my way you old hen!"
Next he kicked at the hogs and threw the slop bucket down at them, and then, still
mumbling, kicked at the old cow while he was feeding her. When he got back to the kitchen,
the mother came up to the little boy and said, "I saw what you did, and because you
kicked the chicken, youre not going to get any eggs this morning. And because you
kicked the hogs, youre not going to get any bacon this morning. And I saw you kick
the cow and youre not going to get any milk this morning." Just then, the
father came storming into the kitchen, just as grumpy as the little boy, and hauled off
and kicked the old pussycat. "Well," said the little boy to the mother,
"are you going to tell him, or should I."

I remember sometime late in the 1950s, we had gone
to Loris on a hot Saturday evening for our once-a-week shopping, and Ma Ma and I were
walking one of the side streets of Loris, trying to catch up with my grandfather, when we
suddenly turned a corner and found ourselves in the middle of a group of about 10-12 Black
men. Now this was not a terribly bad period of time for racial tension, but it was
becoming more important. Suddenly, right in the middle of the group, Ma Ma froze, and I
stopped with her. Turning slowly, she eyed one of the older black men and, recognizing
someone she had known in years gone by, she said, "Henry, is that you? I thought you
were dead! As a matter of fact, you look like you are dead!" Everyone broke out
laughing and Henry nodded "Yesm Miss Mrytle," as she gently squeezed his
arm and we walked on our way.

One of my favorite true stories of Ma Ma, occurred in the
early years of advertising and marketing when some of the larger companies realized that a
good way to sell its product was to give out free samples via the US Mail. Well, one day
Ma Ma got a free sample of a new chocolate candy laxative called Ex-Lax. Looking at it
closely, she nibbled off one corner, and thought that it tasted just like Hersheys
chocolate bars. So, she ate the whole thing! Well, nothing happened for a few hours, but
later that day, everyone heard a loud shriek, and Ma Ma went tearing off to the bathroom,
leaving a brown trail behind her! They never let her live that one down, and she always
got a laugh out of it.

When my family moved to Raleigh in the late 1940s,
we lived for a while in the garage apartment behind Uncle Roland Bryan and Aunt
Luties house. Uncle Roland had a great sense of humor and was always a joy. We boys
admired and looked up to him. He worked for years for the JM Thompson Construction Company
of Raleigh, and many years after his death I made several videos for the Thompsons. They
still remembered him, and most surprising, his picture was openly displayed with honor
among all the founding fathers of the company.

Aunt Frosty and Uncle Oscar were always some of my
favorite people. Aunt Frosty always reminded me of a little school girl, excited, eager,
telling little stories and gossiping. Uncle Oscar was the mild-mannered opposite. He was
always calm, deep-voiced, and had a ton of great stories to tell us boys. Whenever Aunt
Frosty seemed to be getting out of hand, he would always say in this slow, good-natured,
deep voice, "Now, Frosty..." and she would lower her voice and try to be
quieter.

In the late 1960s, Uncle Ivey Bryan came to live
with Ma Ma at her home after my grandfather Gore had passed away. I visited many times and
got to know Uncle Ivey very well. He loved to read and was fascinated with stories of
early man and early civilizations. I was an anthropology major at UNC Chapel Hill and was
doing field work in a black community near Ma Mas home. Uncle Ivey and I spent many
great hours together solving the worlds problems and discussing the true evolution
of man and civilization. Uncle Ivey always dressed immaculately, even just sitting around
the house. He was a real southern gentleman and for years had lived on Sullivans
Island and worked in Charleston. Some years after his death, with a stroke of good luck, I
rescued many of his favorite books from being thrown away and have them in my possession
now. I occasionally remove one or another from the shelves and fondly remember those days
we spent together.

Many of the other Bryans I remember from the Bryan Family
Reunions. Uncle Benny Bryan had 10 sons and one daughter, and my Dad would always go up to
him at the reunions and ask, "Uncle Benny, now how many children do you have at this
reunion?" Uncle Benny would reply, "I have 10 sons and each one of them has a
sister!" Someone would always say, "You mean you have TWENTY children?" And
Uncle Benny would just laugh. What great times those were. We took them for granted, not
knowing how fortunate we really were to be part of such a wonderful family.

Here are some of the old recipes for country cooking that
mother remembers from Ma Ma. Note, that almost none of these recipes would be approved
today, since they are not healthy enough. But mother reminded me that in those days, you
had to make do with what you had. You couldnt run to the grocery store whenever you
were out of some little something or other. I can personally tell you that these recipes
make for some good eating.

Old Southern Greasy Rice

(My brother Wade and I loved this dish
and Ma Ma prepared it often.)

Boil a pork backbone or hen or chicken and save the broth.
Spoon off some of the excess grease and add about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water. Use this
mixture instead of plain water to boil and prepare your white rice. Cook as normal until
done. What a taste treat with fresh butter beans or field peas!

Southern Biscuits

There was no secret recipe or cooking instructions, but Ma
Ma believed that you had to use real lard, buttermilk, and self-rising flour. I still
remember the taste of good, hot biscuits early in the morning just as the sun was rising!

Southern Fried Okra and Yellow Squash

Make a mixture of salt, pepper, and self-rising flour and
place in a paper or plastic bag. Place fresh cut okra (sliced into 1/4" to 1/2"
pieces) or squash (cut into 1/4" slices) in the bag and shake vigorously. Remove okra
or squash from bag and place in hot oil (mother likes Wesson Canola Oil) set on medium to
medium/high. Fry for about 5-6 minutes or until they are crispy but not black. Be careful
not to stir the okra too much as it will become slimy. Remove the okra or squash and let
drain in a plate on several layers of paper towels. Much better than the heavily breaded
types found in some restaurants!

Southern Style Butter Beans

Prepare fresh butter beans and add 1 pat of real butter or
1 tablespoon of bacon drippings (always keep bacon drippings around the kitchenstore
in refrigerator to keep fresh). Add a little pepper to taste and a little salt. Add as
much sugar as you do salt. Sugar is an important spice and enhances the flavor of most
foods. Place in pressure cooker and cook on medium for 6-7 minutes, then turn off and let
sit for 6-7 minutes. Remove lid and enjoy!

Southern Field Peas

Prepare fresh field peas and add 2 pats of real butter or
2 tablespoons of bacon drippings. Add pepper, salt, and sugar as above for butter beans.
Place in pressure cooker and cook for 10-12 minutes and let sit for another 10-12 minutes.
Open and enjoy. Field peas are always better if you use more butter or bacon drippings and
cook longer than for butter beans.

Tender Beef Roast

(One of my favorites, and one which
mother and Ma Ma prepared often.)

Select a chuck roast or other roast with a little fat (fat
makes it moist and tender). Cover the top of the roast with sliced onions. Place in a
covered container (like a Pyrex dish). Add 1/4 cup of water. Cover and cook at 350 degrees
for 30-40 minutes. Reduce heat to 250 degrees and cook for an additional 2 hours. For an
extra treat, add sliced carrots and potatoes in the last 30 minutes. This method can
improve even an inexpensive cut of meat.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Special
Barbecue Dipping Sauce

(This is one of our favorite recipes and
is easy to prepare. It was given to us by a friend
who supposedly had to trick an old man into giving up this secret family recipe.)

Prepare the Special Barbecue Dipping Sauce by melting 1
stick of butter in a medium sauce pan. Add 1 cup of vinegar, 1 cup of Grandmas
Molasses, and 1 cup of Heinz ketchup. Sprinkle with garlic powder to cover the top of the
mixture. Now, sprinkle with onion powder to cover the top of that. Next, sprinkle with
black pepper to cover the top of that layer. Sprinkle to taste with red crushed pepper
(usually enough to cover 1/2 the top of the mixture). Simmer over low at least 1 hour or
until desired consistency is reached. Grill the fresh pork tenderloin on low to medium
heat on an outdoor grill. Cook 45-60 minutes turning 1/4 turn every 10-15 minutes. Cut
into slices 1/4" thick. Serve with a small, individual dish of the Special Barbecue
Dipping Sauce. Ill bet this will become one of your favorites! Refrigerate the
leftover sauce and warm the next time you serve it. This stuff is great and gets better
with time!

I hope you can use some of this. Good luck with your book,
and please let me know when it is completed. Let me know if there is anything else I can
do. I have enclosed this letter as a Windows Write Document in case you are using a word
processing program to write your book.